1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to parts and part supplying methods. The term “part(s)” used herein means a part(s) which constitutes, for example, a process cartridge required to have dimensional precision and removably fitted into a main body of an electrophotographic image forming apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
An image forming apparatus such as a printer using electrophotographic techniques forms a latent image on a uniformly charged photosensitive drum (or electrophotographic photosensitive member) by selective exposure, develops this latent image by toner, and transfers a toner image to a recording medium, thereby effecting recording of an image.
Such an apparatus makes use of a cartridge in which the photosensitive drum, a charger, a developer, a cleaning member and the like are assembled into an integral structure. Accordingly, a user can supply toner or replace a photosensitive drum part which has reached its lifetime, merely by loading a new cartridge into the main body of the apparatus in place of an old cartridge, whereby the user can easily perform maintenance.
The housing of the above-described cartridge is constructed by connecting together a plurality of frames such as a developing frame for supporting the developer and a cleaning frame for supporting the cleaning member.
Many of the cartridge parts necessary for the assembly of the cartridge are classified by the kinds of parts and are randomly boxed in a production factory, or to avoid damage to parts due to contact therebetween, the cartridge parts are individually placed into separate containers and are boxed. Such cartridge parts are conveyed to an assembly line. In the case where the cartridge parts are supplied to an automatic cartridge assembly machine, a device (a parts feeder) is used to make uniform the direction of arrangement of the cartridge parts or the positional relationship between the obverse and reverse side of each of the cartridge parts.